Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

The guards patrolled the hallways of the royal complex. The guards were chatting with each other as they did their daily patrols.

"The situation has been good these days since the Prince has taken charge." One guard said.

"Yes, the prince did a good job managing the palace affairs. I didn\'t know that the prince was such a talented man," commented another guard.

Since Lokendra had taken charge, everything had significantly changed, and their overall efficiency had increased.

They heard a crash sounding from one of the rooms. They rushed towards the source and noticed the doors of the king\'s chambers open.

They entered the room to see the king and the prime minister\'s corpses lying.

Their expressions went from caution to fear and anxiety.

"Call the others. Inform the prince quickly. This is urgent," yelled a guard.

The other guard quickly ran to fetch the royal doctor and other guards.

Meanwhile, Lokendra Deva was outside the Royal Palace. He was informed to return by the royal doctor a few minutes ago. He returned from his inspections quickly. He wondered why his father had called him.

\'I wonder why.\'

Lokendra sighed heavily. The plans were going on smoothly. He was ready to strike down the faction of Harichandan. The internal spies had done their job well and exposed the prime targets to take down.

He decided not to show even a speck of mercy to the people involved in the heinous plan of Harichandan. There were some big nobles in the mix. The rest were just following them without really knowing about their plans.

Upon reaching the Royal Palace, a guard ran towards him with a nervous look.

"Your Highness, The King..." His voice trailed off.

Lokendra noticed the faces of the soldiers and grasped something went wrong.

He ran towards his father\'s room.

Lokendra saw a couple of guards and the royal doctor gathered in the room.

He looked down at the floor to see the two corpses laying with blood pooled over the marble floor.

It was the corpses of the Prime Minister Harichandan and his father.

His body went numb as he looked at the sword piercing the chest of his father.

It was the ceremonial sword that hung on the walls of his room.

His father had died.

"Your Highness, both are dead."

The royal doctor shook his dead with a grim look.

It wasn\'t a normal scene. Lokendra\'s mind raced with a million thoughts. The scene looked like the prime minister had tried to kill the king and the king retailiated. Both of them died in the process.

Lokendra, who knew of Harichandan\'s personality, knew that this wasn\'t the way that man would do things. He was a guy who waited for years. He wouldn\'t ruin his plans in this shabby way.

He quickly grasped the reality of the situation. His father had purposely done this.

Although he wanted to cry for the death of his father. Now wasn\'t the right time to do so. His father had given him an opportunity to take his rightful place.

He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth to control his emotions.

Lokendra turned to the guards.

"Call in the ministers. The prime minister killed the king."

The guards nodded and went to carry out their orders.

The royal doctor stayed silent as he also grasped the reality of the situation.

"Doctor, I hope you will keep your mouth shut about it." Lokendra said with a cold look.

"Yes, Your Highness." He began

I never thought the prime minister would do such a thing to the king."

"You may leave."

After everyone had left the room.

Lokendra called in his spies. Two men dressed in all black emerged from the balcony of the chambers and kneeled before him.

"Prepare to eliminate those bastards that were in on the plan with the Harichandan. Prepare for the extermination."

He then turned to the other one.

"You go and spread rumors about this situation."

"Yes, Your Highness. The prime minister had truly gone far and committed treason against the kingdom."

"Yes, Your Highness."

They both disappeared after listening to the orders of the lokendra.

He looked down at his father\'s corpse and grimaced.

Lokendra had lost all his family members now. He was all alone in their arduous path of leading a kingdom.

Technically, he had a family member left. The current Emperor of Vijayanagara, Harsha, was his nephew but it was clear from his attitude that he didn\'t consider the Gajapathis as part of his family anymore.

\'Sister, I am sorry,\' he thought to himself.

He now had to kill his political rivals in a bloody battle. It was highly likely that the faction members that supported the prime minister would have a private army ready for a coup.

The spies already uncovered some information on their movements but they didn\'t act without proof. Now with the death of the prime minister. They would have no choice but to act and try to take over the capital.

Lokendra knew that they would try to rally support for their cause. This was why he wanted to spread rumors about the death of his father.

The local nobles that were largely loyal to the kingdom would immediately withdraw support at the rumors.

This would make their dreams shatter in front of them and leave them powerless to beat their army.

The incompetence of his father gave rise to the prime minister. It was his duty to slay the blemish of the royal family.

His father did it in his stead.

His life was extinguished, defeating the very monster that he had given birth to.

Tears streamed down Lokendra\'s face. Despite everything, he loved his father.

But in the end, he was unable to protect or prevent this situation from happening.

\'Sorry for not being able to protect you like a good son,\'

Lokendra clenched his fist.

"All the bastards that supported Harichandan shall pay with their lives."